NOTES FOR WOMEN

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10085, 25 September 1918, Page 8

NOTES FOR WOMEN

PRISONERS OF WAR RELIEF OF RED CROSS. Among many branches of the work of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John, to which recent developments in the fighting areas have brought marked increase of responsibility, is the task of providing food parcels for British prisoners of war in enemy hands. Parcels of food for about one-third of our prisoners are provided directly by the Bed Cross through the Central Prisoners of War Committee, at Thurloe Place, London. The others are provided through regimental care committees and local associations, all of which act under the control and authorisation of the central committee, which administers the official scheme of relief. Financial aid grants are made to many of these care committee and associations. Precise figures art difficult to give at the moment wit!regard to prisoners, but in May lasparcels were being packed and sent di reot from Thurloe Place to more than 900 officers and some 20,000 men. By the end of June, over 22,000 names oi now prisoners had been received, ana during that month no fewer than IS*,633 parcels wore ‘ packed and sent off by the central committee. In addition, about two-thirds of the British prison ers receive bread through the two spe cial broad depots maintained at Berne and Copenhagen, while a depot at Rotterdam is kept supplied with food in bulk, to, bo sent quickly to enemy prison camps for the benefit of newlycaptured men. The system organised and controlled by the committee is directed to one thing, the supply to every British prisoner, military and civil, in enemy countries, .of a full ration of. food, clothing, and as many comforts as possible. To every prisoner 30 pounds <n food is sent each fortnight, and yno parcels weighing 15 pounds each when packed are now being dispatched instead of , the three ten-pound parcels which went formerly in each fortnight. The broad, of course, is .additional. So far, the work involved- by the increase of prisoners has been satisfactorily met, in spite of the difficulty of obtaining workers. The requirements and limitations of the censorship and other regulations under which parcels have to be sent naturally involve great complexity of work, the handling of large sums of money, vast quantities of supplies, an ever-growing correspondence, and the keeping of elaborate records. At a recent date the number of workers under the Central War Committee exceeded 500, and they have since boon added to. Women play a .largo and much-appreciated part in the work, and the bulk of the packing is done by them. As far as the cost to tho Red Cross funds of relief for prisoners is concerned, it has, of course, risen enormously. Last year it amounted to £ISOO per day. It is now about £IOOO a day, and will probably increase still further in tho near future. Tho service for prisoners is ono of tho most urgent and vital for which the Rod Cross is responsible. Its increasing demands, like those in other departments of war activity-, serves lo emphasise tho urgency of wide and generous response to tho appeal for funds which the joint societies are again making on “Our Day” (October 24th), for it is only by such response that tho maintenance at tho full of all tho Rod Cross help for sick and wounded captives can bo assured.